The search for a young Alabama woman who went missing following an Independence Day boating accident has entered its fourth full day, local law enforcement said.
Kelsey Starling, 26, of Troy, Alabama, is a teacher at Birmingham’s Tuggle Elementary School. She disappeared on the evening of July 4 after a boat in which she was a passenger collided with another boat on Smith Lake north of Birmingham, reported AL.com.
The 26-year-old Troy native disappeared on the Fourth of July following a crash in Smith Lake’s Rock Creek area.
Search in 4th day for Birmingham City Schools speech pathologist after Independence Day boat crash https://t.co/85xzJLhRCq pic.twitter.com/PWyaGbaQ7W
— AL.com (@aldotcom) July 8, 2019
Alabama’s Marine Patrol Sgt. Chad Pate told AL.com that Starling was in a Mastercraft wakeboard boat with four passengers when the accident happened. They were transported for medical attention by emergency responders.
Recovery efforts continue for missing boater, Kelsey Starling.
Starling was ejected from a boat, the night of July 4th, during a boating crash in the Rock Creek area of Smith Lake.
The driver of the boat charged w/ Boating Under the Influence. @WBRCnews pic.twitter.com/0gpGPyhb4C
— Brittany Dionne (@BrittanyDtvNews) July 6, 2019
The Mastercraft was driven by 23-year-old William Jackson Fite of Decatur, reported CBS42. Fite was held early Friday in Winston County Jail on a charge of boating under the influence.
Mugshot of William Jackson Fite Jr who is charged with Boating Under the Influence. Crews are still looking for Kelsey Starling following a July 4 boat crash on Smith Lake. pic.twitter.com/RTsQHkqlA9
— WBRC FOX6 News (@WBRCnews) July 8, 2019
In her hometown of Troy Starling’s family and friends are still hoping for the best.
“She’s so smart, so beautiful, so much life ahead of her,” said 17-year-old Megan Starling, to whom Kelsey is seen as a role model, according to CBS42.
Megan told CBS42 that she still has hope, and all she wants is to give her big sister with that big smile a big hug.
“We’re just really thankful for the people that are trying to find her, that are still looking, and say they won’t stop because we really want Kelsey back.”
Mugshot of William Jackson Fite Jr who is charged with Boating Under the Influence. Crews are still looking for Kelsey Starling following a July 4 boat crash on Smith Lake. pic.twitter.com/RTsQHkqlA9
— WBRC FOX6 News (@WBRCnews) July 8, 2019
In a separate boating accident that also occurred on July 4, a man and a teenager were killed on Jordan Lake in Elmore County.
Breaking from Elmore County. WSFA 12 News has just learned divers have recovered the body of 17-year old Travis House in Jordan Lake. House was the second person missing after a collision on the lake Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/Yh81mAMn4f
— Bryan Henry (@BryanHenryWSFA) July 6, 2019
Marine Patrol Capt. Gary Buchanan told The Associated Press that crews on Saturday recovered the bodies of 26-year-old Devin Clay Jackson and 17-year-old Travis Lee House from Lake Jordan, north of Montgomery.
Buchanan said five others were hurt when two 19-foot boats collided.
